New House, Maybe? Save Money, Definitely!

Well, as some of you know we've found another house that we really like so we made an offer and after about three counters finally settled on a deal.  Of course we made it contingent upon the sale of our house which has been on the market exactly one week today.  After the initial anxiety of how I might possibly be able to manage showing while maintaining two kids, two cats, one husband and one business I am at peace with it now.  Even though we haven't had any showings yet so far I'm keeping the house within about 10-15 minutes of being "show ready".  Of course when I do get our first showing call I will probably turn into a frantic crazy person but for now I feel good about it.  I figured I've done harder things in my life plus when you really want something then you'll do what it takes to get it!  The house we want has 15 acres (still in our area) with a barn, creek and lots of trees.  I can really see my family of boys enjoying every minute of God's creation on this property.

My latest ambition is to become like one of these people who spend $25 for $100 worth of groceries.  I've always been an avid couponer even before couponing was cool.  Although my coupon skills/use have wanted some after having kids.  I know this is the stage where most moms ramp up their money saving but I needed sanity saving.  Convenience has ruled over frugality.  Not to say that I totally waste money but I'm not as good as I once was.  So in 2010 I've been working toward getting back to my more frugal self now that the kiddos are getting a little older and a little more self sufficient and I can actually clip the coupons, make a grocery list, plan meals, etc. on a regular basis without feeling like I'm losing my mind.  I'm not sure I'm going to be able to match my friend Tracy who spends $40 a week for a family of four but I'm working in that direction.

So you'll notice some new blogs I'm following and I recommend that you check them out too just to get a few extra money saving tips for your family.  Even if you don't go coupon crazy you can look at these and they've done some of the leg work for letting you know what stores have what on sale each week and what coupons you might be able to pair with it to get the most savings.

Of course one of the things that you have to consider is what type of food all these people are buying.  One of the reasons I'm probably not going to the best at this game is due to the fact that I'm really trying to get us away from processed foods and make more organic choices.  There are coupons for organic products out there (not as common though) and since I've been buying almond milk I've gotten some of those coupons from the register at Kroger.  So basically while I try to balance more fresh foods, less eating out, clipping coupons, planning meals and saving money I'm just going to be happy with doing the best I can.

I also wanted to share with you all where I get my beef for my family.  A friend of mine (and her husband) have a cattle farm in Springfield and they raise grass fed cows - no hormones, etc.  They know everything about the cows they breed.  I've been buying their beef for about 2 years or more now and in the past when I've ran out (I don't EVER run out anymore) Conner has called me out on it and said "Mommy is this Ms. Kathy's beef?"  They have amazing ground beef, steaks, roasts and they even make dog treats.  The link to their site is www.gourmetpasturebeef.com  I have a regular order that I get every month and she used to give a 10% discount for standing orders and sometimes she has coupons at www.robertsonchamber.org  I figured after our latest book club read of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle then some of you might be interested in more information of this locally available, organic beef.

I'm on my way to Kroger to get FREE Steamfresh veggies (frozen still works for me :-) that are on sale $10/10 this week (you don't have to buy 10 to get the price BTW) and pair it with my $0.50 off coupon that will be doubled.  Now that's my kind of frozen broccoli!